Monday, 21 November 2016

Garlic needs a long growing season and so needs to be planted in Autumn, before Christmas, for a crop the following Summer.

It is Winter hardy and so will survive the weather once its established and has roots down.
In fact it will benefit from cold weather later on, as this will encourage the growing bulbs to split into garlic cloves.

Opinions vary as to the best time. One old saying goes:
"Plant on the shortest day, harvest on the longest day."

But it can go into the ground earlier in Autumn.

This year I decided to get mine in early, in September, to help it get established before the Winter weather.

You can buy garlic from seed /plant suppliers - and this may deliver the best results.

This year I saved a little money and bought two nice looking fat garlic bulbs from a local greengrocer. One thing I checked was that this was a British grown variety. European bulbs,often from Spain or Italy, may not do so well in our weather conditions.

I split the bulbs into individual garlic cloves. I then planted these in rows, about nine inches apart and with the tip of each clove about two inches under the ground.

I covered these with a net cloche, mainly to protect them from birds pulling them up.

This is not absolutely necessary if you don't have cloches.

If you don't have an allotment, or have limited space, garlic can be grown in pots in the garden.

In fact you could do this in addition to your allotment crop, as you will have a supply outside the back door in easy reach of the kitchen.

Thursday, 17 November 2016

Compost is a cornerstone of organic allotment growing - as I've stated before on this blog.

An allotment or garden should have at least one compost bin - and two, or even three even better.

If time or space do not yet allow - a simple compost heap is better than nothing.

You can then recycle weeds and the remains of crops back into the soil over time. Basic sustainability - weeds and crops take nutrients out of the ground, compost puts them back.

The advantage of having at least two bins is that one can be filled then left to rot down into good compost, while the second is filled day to day. Bin one can be emptied of compost when ready, the contents of bin two turned over into it and so the cycle starts again.

I have two compost bins in my garden at home.

This allows me to recycle kitchen and garden waste without having to transport it out to my allotment.

I also have three larger wooden bins on my allotment. I've constructed two of these from wooden pallets.

These are generally fairly easy to get for free if you ask around local businesses - they often have these hanging around and are glad to get rid of them.

The method of construction is fairly simple. You'll need four pallets, each roughly the same size, although they don't have to be identical. If possible - six wooden tree stakes, roughly one inch square and five feet in length. A roll of medium to heavy duty garden wire. Some fairly heavy duty cardboard in large sheets - old house removal boxes (which I used) or large cartons are ideal.

First choose a spot where the bins can fit on your plot, somewhere around the edges or corners is usually best. If you are only building one bin to start with, try to choose a spot where another will fit alongside in due course.

Think about it carefully because, while they can be moved later, it will be a major pain. Clear and level the chosen space as needed.

Starting with the pallet at the back, dig a trench about 6 inches deep, wide and long enough for the pallet to drop into. Place the pallet in the trench, then place wooden stakes in between the two faces of the pallet at either end. Hammer the stakes into the ground, deep enough to be secure. Get the pallet roughly level and vertical (you don't need to be 100% precise) then use wire to secure the pallet to the stakes. Back-fill the trench, again keeping the pallet as level and vertical as possible.

Repeat the above process for the two sides of the bin. Use additional lengths of wire to secure the three pallets together.

Line the three inside faces with cardboard, secured with wire and /or short galvanised nails.This will improve insulation, retain heat and so speed up composting.

Before adding the front pallet, load in any compost material that you already have.

Add the front pallet, dug into a trench, but you could leave out the stakes as it will make removing this side easier. You might want to remove the front later when you dig out the finished compost.

Thursday, 10 November 2016

Green Manures are grown to improve the soil on the allotment - rather than for edible crops.

They can be sown at any time of year on an empty growing bed, to occupy the space before sowing or planting at a later date. Particularly useful if you have cleared ground on a new allotment, but are not yet ready to use the space for crops.

But on an established plot - late Summer and Autumn are good times to consider Green Manures - after crops have been harvested.

They can help to improve soil quality in a number of ways:

Providing cover and holding the soil together to prevent winter rains washing out nutrients.

Keeping down weeds by crowding and shading them out.

In some cases - particularly beans - fixing nitrogen into the ground.

Providing organic material for the compost bin when eventually cut down - or ......

...... providing organic material to be dug in to improve soil structure.

In August I dug the last of my potatoes.

I sowed Mustard Green Manure into the beds.

This germinated quickly and provided good ground cover,

It won't last through the Winter, but I will cut it down for compost when it starts to die back.

In October I started clearing other beds of the last crops.

I then spread my finished compost onto the growing beds. On top of that I've sown Winter Field Beans.

The first time I've grown these on the plot - they can be sown from September through to the end of November and should provide ground cover through the Winter.

Monday, 7 November 2016

For me composting is one of the foundation stones of a good allotment.

Recycling cleared crops and weeds to provide nutrients and soil conditioning to the growing beds year on year.

I have three compost bins on my plot - the idea is that one or two are "live" at any given time - while another is closed down and left to rot down into good quality compost.

These are built from old wooden pallets - which are wonderful for constructing compost bins if you can get hold of them.

This Autumn I've emptied one that has been full and rotting down all through Spring and Summer, spreading the finished compost onto the growing beds. I don't bother digging this in, I just leave it for the worms and weather to work it into the soil naturally.

This is now my "live" compost bin that I'm filling with the green waste from Autumn harvested crops and weeding.

A second bin - which I've been filling up through Spring and Summer - has now been closed down and put to bed. I'll give this a full year to mature before emptying it onto the growing beds next Autumn.

To do this I've put a layer of cardboard on top, then covered this with a layer of wood chips. This will help to keep the heat in and the compost to rot down and mature more quickly. At the same time it will let the rain in - as some moisture is needed for the process.

So next Autumn I can empty out around half a ton of rich compost - all for free - and the whole natural cycle begins again.